Time-Energy Entangled Photon Pairs from Doppler-Broadened Atomic Ensemble Via Collective Two-Photon Coherence

Quantum entanglement first attracted attention as the heart of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) paradox and one of the most counterintuitive phenomena in the view of classical physics [1]. Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) [2] and Franson interferences [3] are regarded as important evidence of the non-classical nature of photon sources. Since a two-photon interference experiment with time-energy entangled photons was proposed by J. D. Franson [2], the fourth-order interferences beyond the one-photon coherence length have attracted considerable attention as important and interesting quantum phenomena in quantum optics. Surprisingly, Franson interference has been not experimentally demonstrated by use of two-photon pairs emitted from a cascade-type atomic system with continuous wave (CW) pumping, as originally proposed by Franson.